They’ve been called everything from curly bulbs to squirrel bulbs to pigtail bulbs, but one thing CFL light bulbs have never been called is beautiful. Until now. A British company by the name of Plumen creates CFL bulbs with an attractive design, one that is meant to be on display. Last month the Plumen 001 […]

The AmbientLED from Philips is the latest LED light designed to replace the 60 watt bulbs in people’s homes. Unlike older LEDs I tested, this light is definitely up to that job. It gives off 800 lumens of warm light, while running on 12 watts. It’s the first LED light to earn an ENERGY STAR […]

LEDs offer the best energy efficiency of any widely available lighting technology. And LED lights contain no mercury, as opposed to the compact fluorescent bulbs that have become so common. But recent reports suggest that LEDs may have their own issues with hazardous substances, so should you steer clear of them? Not so fast – […]

The Pharox 300 Flame is the warmest LED light bulb I’ve tested. It’s been in a desk lamp in my living room — it gives off a pleasing yellow glow (a 3000 kelvin output). The Pharox’s light quality is very good. Unlike CFLs, this bulb contains no mercury it emits no UV radiation. Typically, quality household […]

There has been much discussion in the media lately (including a fair amount of misinformation) regarding the phase-out of traditional incandescent light bulbs in the United States. Read on to separate the reality from the hype, and to learn more about efficient lighting technologies that will save energy and cut your power bills.